William Atkinson is the head teacher of Phoenix high school in White City, west London, an inner city comprehensive that was officially "failing" when he took over in 1995.

With his school one of hundreds in the south east struggling to cope with the impact of teacher shortages, he welcomed the Budget's education measures as likely to help him recruit more staff, and support both pupils and teachers with additional resources.

"This is my third headship, and I have seen many education changes under different governments," he said. "But the significant difference under Labour has been the substantial extra money being brought directly into schools. I am pleased that in the latest Budget the government is continuing this policy".

Mr Atkinson - pictured above - who is said to have been the inspiration for the recent BBC TV series Hope and Glory, starring Lenny Henry as the head of a struggling school, saw the measures - notably further direct grants for heads and bonuses to attract "returners" to the teaching profession - as much needed help to take the pressure off school budgets and also help to recruit and retain teachers.

"The overall package sounds very good and very even handed because it will benefit all schools," he said. "This will help us enormously. Even if it is a pre-election ploy, it is a three year spending commitment which makes it easier to plan ahead."

Teachers were key to delivering the government's standards agenda, he said, which meant that heads had particular difficulties when there were serious shortages. "I've been very worried about teacher morale and recruitment," he said.

"At the moment I am fifteen teachers short, which means that one third of my staff are supply teachers".

At Phoenix, which has 800 pupils aged 11-16 on its roll, problems came to a head just before Christmas, when anything between four and nine classes had to be taught together in the dining hall.

"I absolutely did not want to send students home, as in many cases it was quite a struggle to get them to school in the first place," he said. "And I did not want to pass those problems on to parents."

The prospect of a further tranche of cash going direct to schools without the need for complex and lengthy bidding was a major boost, Mr Atkinson agreed. Schools are allocated the money based on pupil numbers, so as a result of last year's Budget, for example, he got £47,000; while the autumn statement led to a promise of a further £60,000 next month. "Among my concerns is the fact that, too often, to get extra resources, we are forced into a time-consuming bidding process, which leads many schools to employ consultants in an effort to maximise their chances of being successful," he added. "That really can't be right. It is so much easier when we get the money direct.

The extra cash earmarked by the government for capital projects was essential, he concluded.

"Extra money for school repairs has made a real difference as you can't teach students properly when they are subjected to leaky roofs and broken windows".